It’s been an exciting start to the summer with our chart topping artists and labels! This month, we’re cheering to The Story So Far, who’s currently killing Warped Tour with a number of other Pure Noise artists; San Francisco Symphony, who topped Billboard’s Traditional Classical Albums and Classical Albums chart; and while we don’t usually include Top Tracks in these summaries, we just had to for one particular week on iTunes Brazil, where two of our artists dominated more than half of the Top 20, as well as Julias Moon and Porcelain Black, who came in #1 in their respective Danish and French iTunes genre charts. Last, but certainly not least, Brandon Semenuk’s Rad Company, fresh from our expanded partnership with Red Bull Media House, absolutely killed it on pretty much all related iTunes films charts around the world.

PS. This is only a snapshot of our artists’ chart positions. They’ve also placed in many genre charts on both Billboard and iTunes, but we’ve zoned in on the more general charts for the purpose of this post.

Punk Rock has become a musical institution in America in the past four decades and nowhere is that more clearly visible than in the Vans Warped Tour, now celebrating its 20th anniversary with dates running from 6/11 to 8/3. One Orchard label, Pure Noise, has 8 bands alone performing on Warped Tour, including Cali’s breakout success The Story So Far, and veterans like Massachusetts-based Vanna and Four Year Strong.

“The Ramones have one Gold record to their name,” KISS’ Gene Simmons told Consequence of Sound once referring to their comp Ramones Mania. “But they meant nothing. They never succeeded, failed, in fact.” But history has proven otherwise. Although Ramones peaked at No. 111 on the Billboard 200 and “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” never became the hoped for radio hits, SPIN named Ramones #1 in 50 Essential Punk Records, and it was inducted into the Library of Congress, along with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Janis Joplin’s Cheap Thrills.

The Ramones and the other hard touring bands of their era like Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith Group and Devo (whose Something Else For Everybody is also being distributed by The Orchard) singlehandedly created a Punk Rock touring circuit that previously had not existed in 1976. Today, getting the crucial support and live exposure is so much easier — young bands just plug in to Warped Tour‘s festival, playing short sets and meeting fans afterwards at merchandise booths to swap stories and autographs. Warped Tour is so successful in 2014 that many bands schedule their releases around it. The Story So Far‘s Songs Of, Vanna‘s Void, Handguns‘ Life Lessons, Heart To Heart‘s Dulce, My Iron Lung‘s Relief, Four Year Strong‘s Go Down In History, To The Wind‘s Block Out The Sun, Brigades‘ Crocodile Tears – all will benefit from the audience reach and impact of the Tour. Some of these developing acts will eventually grow like The Story So Far to be mainstage headliners someday.

And that is the Ramones legacy all these years later: non-stop relentless touring, taking the live Punk experience to their fans and creating your own definition of success. Punk may have evolved into many sub-genres over the years — from Hardcore to Emo, Screamo, Metal Core and so on — but its impact today can be felt on the Warped Tour, in Vans footwear, at clothing based mall outlets like Hot Topic and in the latest generation to emerge from the streets of Noo Yawk City like Brooklyn’s Cerebral Ballzy who just this week released Jaded and Faded on Cult Records, a label run by The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, a man and a band clearly influenced by the CBGB era DIY Punk aesthetic. Punk Rock, like Rock & Roll, is here to stay!

For the international physical and digital campaign surrounding the release of The Story So Far’s sophomore album What You Don’t See, our goal was to build off of the already existing anticipation the album was generating, keeping fans engaged throughout the album cycle, and making it easy for them to seamlessly purchase the release through everyday actions like checking Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and watching YouTube videos.

Tactics

To begin, we provided new designs for the band’s Twitter page as well as the label’s YouTube channel, and we supported key promotional pushes and retailer mentions by writing tweets, Facebook posts, and Tumblr updates.

To capitalize on fans visiting the band’s website, we built a Splash Page, complete with video, buy links to physical and digital, and a remarketing pixel, which helped us build a remarketing group to which we could later serve ads on various music blogs and websites.

Next, we partnered with Switchcam, an interactive multi-camera app, to record The Story So Far playing at the Glass House in Pomona, CA. The way it works is fans record the show — on their phones, video cameras, etc. — and Switchcam pairs those shots with original board audio for a high quality, fan-generated video that can then serve as an asset for the band to share.

To keep momentum and reach fans anytime, any place, we created an iOS/Android mobile app through Mobile Roadie. The app encourages users to connect their social networks upon launch for easy sharing, sign up to the band’s newsletter for exclusive updates, and invite their friends to spread the love. Features include music with buy links, videos, tour dates, fan wall, and more, all below a prominent image of What You Don’t See’s album art that promptly leads to iTunes.

Last, we supported the release through banner ads, which not only targeted the remarketing group we built through the band’s Splash Page, but also focused on key Best Buy markets to support the physical release. Outlets that displayed the ads include AltPress, Mashable, The Los Angeles Times, and HypeMachine.

Last year’s Orchard-IODA merger brought a veritable treasure trove of great new music into our system. We’ve had the very pleasurable opportunity to do a fair bit of exploration over the last 13 months and thought we might share a cross section of highlights. The following playlist includes household names to some of today’s buzziest / most acclaimed new artists to formerly obscure musicians who have only been rediscovered in recent years.

The list includes “Head Like A Hole,” the song that put Nine Inch Nails on the map in 1990, Arlo Guthrie‘s 1972 Top 40 hit “The City Of New Orleans,” and “After The Laughter (Comes Tears),” a 1964 Soul masterpiece by Wendy Rene which has been sampled by The Wu-Tang Clan and Alicia Keys and used in films like Lucky Number Slevin and The Wackness.

It also contains early tracks by contemporary Rock royalty like My Morning Jacket, Rise Against, and The Black Angels; and music from fast-rising up-and-comers like Portland bands STRFKR (“Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” has been heard in a Target ad on the TV show Weeds) and Blind Pilot (their 2008 debut, 3 Rounds And A Sound led them to tours with The Hold Steady and The Decemberists), as well as San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees, (Breaking Bad fans may recognize the 7″ single “Tidal Wave” from a pivotal scene in season four).

It’s not all Rock by any means. On the Electronic end of the spectrum, we have selections from the Mercury Prize-nominated debuts by the UK’s Burial and Zero 7, and a single from Minneapolis duo Poliça, whose (late) 2011 debut Give You The Ghost earned praise from the likes of Jay-Z and Bon Iver. We have also have Jazz from three-time Grammy-winning bassist Christian McBride (a track recorded with Grammy-winning world music legend Angélique Kidjo), and Hip-Hop from Deltron 3030, an Alternative/Hip-Hop supergroup comprised of Dan the Automator [Gorillaz], Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala, (their self-titled album was “the most purely enjoyable Hip-Hop album of 2000,” according to NME).

We’ve also included a few slightly under the radar picks from some personal favorites, including pioneering all-female Post-Punk trio The Raincoats (who were extensively championed by the late Kurt Cobain), influential Los Angeles Blues Punk-ers The Gun Club (“Carry Home,” featured here, was covered by Mark Lanegan on a his 1999 covers album, I’ll Take Care Of You), and Santa Barbara Folk musician/Vietnam veteran F.J. McMahon, whose lone album, Spirit Of The Golden Juice [1969], was a highly sought after/highly priced collector’s item that was only recently reissued by Rev-Ola [CD + digital] and Sacred Bones [vinyl].

Happy Friday everyone! I don’t know about you, but this one seems particular welcome. It’s the first Friday of Spring, the sun is shining (at least in New York!), SXSW fever is over and it’s time to relax.

To help, we’ve got free tunes for you as usual, starting with an awesome cover of Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” by The Melvins in anticipation of their upcoming album, chock full of even more awesome covers. Next, get reacquainted with The Virgins through the full album stream of their just released gem. Way Yes and Julian Lynch preview tracks from their albums too, and to close out, immerse yourself in The Waiting Room with The Story So Far — it’s a sesh you don’t want to miss.

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About The Orchard

The Orchard is a pioneering music, video and film distribution company and top-ranked Multi Channel Network operating in more than 25 global markets. Founded in 1997, we empower businesses and creators in the entertainment industry.